Switch-socket structure



y 6, 1952 L. LUDWIG 2,595,799

SWITCH-SOCKET STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 29, 1949 INVENTOR. A 007.5 1 UDWIG 4TTOR/VE) UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE SWITCH-SOCKET STRUCTURE Louis Ludwig, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application September 29, 1949, Serial No. 118,589

5 Claims. 1

The invention. is directed tov electrical receptacles,v more particularly to. a combined socket and switch for electric lamps.

Devices of this kind have been known and used for a considerable number of. years. Some of them have been satisfactory in operation but many of them suffer from various disadvantages. In some cases, the construction was rather. complicated and costly, and. in other cases, the assembly was rather complicated.

It is among the objects of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages and difficulties inherent in prior structures of the typedescribed, it being among the objects of the present invention to provide a receptaclev which is a combination of a. switch and a. socket for. electric lamps, which is simple in construction, and which is sturdy, to. minimize accidental breakage.

It is also among the objectsof the present invention to provide a device of the character described in which the several elements are capable of being quickly and easily assembled to complete the unit.

It is further among the objects of the present invention to provide a receptacle in, which the switch has a positive action. both in closing and in opening the lamp or other circuit.

The invention is more fully described in the accompanying drawing, in which. like reference characters indicate like parts, and in which Fig. l is a side elevational view of a receptacle made in accordance with. the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end, elevational, view taken from the right of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the receptacleshown in. Fig. l, with the upper half of the housing removed to reveal the mechanism therein;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of one of the two members of the split. housing, said members being duplicates, and

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section view taken along the line 55 of Fig. 2.

In practicing the invention, there is provided a hollow housing consisting of duplicate members I and 2 which are hollow and which are assembled along the line 3, which is the centerline of the completed receptacle. the housing has apair of slots 5 for the passage of contact prongs therethrough. At the opposite end is a neck portion 6 terminating in a flange I. A metal socket 8 fitted in neck 6 has an open end 9 at the left, as shown in Fig. 3.

The two halves of the casing have a recess I and a constricted opening I I leading into the interior of the housing. A knob I2 having its inner end within recess III is provided with an operating rod I3 extending across the interior of the housing.

Each of the halves I and. 2 has two pair of projections I 4 and I extending therefrom and adapted to meet to forma transverse passageway to confine rod I3 and hold it against accidental One end 4' of displacement. A U-shaped or channel-shaped operating cam I3 is held on rod I3 and stops II are punched out of the body of rod I3 to prevent accidental removal of cam I6. The position of said cam is defined by stops I1 and projections I4 so that it is maintained in operative position under all conditions.

A prong I8 extends through one of the openings 5 and has a shoulder I9 with an extended portion 29 parallel to prong I8. Said portion 20 rests upon ledge 2I in housing 2. Integral with shell 8 is an extension 22 which is secured by soldering or the like at 23 to the end of portion 20. It passes through an opening or a notch 24 in thin insulating disk 25. Said disk fits into space 26 in the housing and is normally held against rim 21 therein.

The other prong 28 passes through the other slot 5 and has a shoulder or offset portion 29 with an extending portion 39 parallel to prong 23. An arcuate recess 3| is provided in portion 38 to allow the free movement of rod I3. The inner end of portion 30 is bent as shown at 32 and terminates in an angular flat portion 33 which constitutes the contact member, as well as the closing wedge to hold the two bakelite housing members I and 2 together.

Housings I and 2 are provided with upstanding pillars 34, each of which has a transverse recess 35. Said recess is of such width that when angular portion 33 is seated therein, the fit is tight and friction therewith holds the housings together.

A U-shaped fiat, thin strip of springy metal 36 has one of the legs 31 thereof extending parallel to angular portion 33 and substantially in contact with cam I9, as shown in Fig. 5. The other leg 38 of the strip 36 is bent, as shown at 39, passing through a slot in disk 25, and being bent upwardly as shown at 40 to fit closely on said disk.

The inner end H of socket or shell 8 is open so that end 49 constitutes the central electrode or contact member. Flange I has recess 42 on the inner face thereof and shell 8 is flared at '43 so as to seat in recess 42. Thereby the socket is held firmly in position with respect to the other elements.

In making the assembly, shell 8 has extension 22 fastened or rivetted to prong I8. Operating rod I3 with its knob I2 is assembled withcam I6 thereon. Strip 36 is assembled on diskv 25. In the assembly prong 28 is placed in housing 2, shell 8 with attached prong I8 is slipped into the notch in disk 25 and the parts are then fitted into housing 2. Operating rod I3 is placed in the positidn shown in Fig. 3 and then housing I is forced on top of the assembly, the friction. of. angular portion 33 in recesses 35 holding the same in position. In order to insure that there will not be any displacement of the housings I and 2, a

suitable cement may be provided at the meeting areas thereof to form a permanent joint.

I claim:

1. A switch-socket structure comprising a split housing having a narrow open neck at one end thereof and a pair of slots at the other end, a threaded metal shell open at both ends held in said neck and adapted to receive a lamp at its outer end, a prong extending into said housing through one of said slots and secured to said shell, an insulating disk having a central slit adjacent the inner end of said shell, a spring metal strip having one end passed through said slit and lying against said disk and adapted to contact the center of the base of said lamp, a second prong extending through the other slot and having an angular inner portion, the other end of said strip being U-shaped and embracing said angular portion, a switch rod extending into the side of said housing, a knob on the outer end of said rod, an operating can on said rod adjacent to one leg of said U, a plurality of projections in said housing on both sides of said rod for maintaining said rod in operative position, said cam adapted to cause contact between said strip and angular prong portion, recesses in both parts of said housing and said angular portion fitting tightly into said recesses for holding said parts together.

2. A switch-socket structure comprising a split housing having a narrow open neck at one end thereof and a pair of slots at the other end, a threaded metal shell open at both ends held in said neck and adapted to receive a lamp at its outer end, a shoulder at the outer face of said neck and a corresponding flange on said shell, a prong extending into said housing through one of said slots and secured to said shell, an insulating disk having a central slit adjacent the inner end of said shell, a spring metal strip having one end passed through said slit and lying against said disk and adapted to contact the center of the base of said lamp, a second prong extending through the other slot and having an angular inner portion, the other end of said strip being U-shaped and embracing said angular portion, a switch rod extending into the side of said housing, a knob on the outer end of said rod, an operating cam on said rod adjacent to one leg of said U, a plurality of projections in said housing on both sides of said rod for maintaining said rod in operative position, said cam adapted to cause contact between said strip and angular prong portion, recesses in both parts of said housing and said angular portion fitting tightly into said recesses for holding said parts together.

3. A switch-socket structure comprising a split housing having a narrow open neck at one end thereof and a pair of slots at the other end, a threaded metal shell open at both ends held in said neck and adapted to receive a lamp at its outer end, a prong extending into said housing through one of said slots and secured to said shell, an insulating disk having a central slit adjacent the inner end of said shell, a spring metal strip having one end passed through said slit and lying against said disk and adapted to contact the center of the base of said lamp, said disk having a notch in the edge thereof and said prong passing throughsaid notch, a secondprong extending through the other slot and having an angular inner portion, the other end of said strip being U-shaped and embracing said angular portion, a switch rod extending into the side of said housing a knob on the outer end of said rod, an

operating cam on said rod adjacent to one leg of said U, a plurality of projections on said housing on both sides of said rod for maintaining said rod in-operative position, said cam adapted to cause contact between said strip and angular prong portion, recesses in both parts of said housing and said angular portion fitting tightly into said recesses for holding said parts together.

4. A switch-socket structure comprising a split housing having a narrow open neck at one end thereof and a pair of slots at the other end, a threaded metal shell open at both ends held in said neck and adapted to receive a lamp at its outer end, a prong extending into said housing through one of said slots, an integral extension on said shell attached to said prong, an insulating disk having a central slit adjacent the inner end of said shell, a spring metal strip having one end passed through said slit and lying against said disk and adapted to contact the center of the base of said lamp, a second prong extending through the other slot and having an angular inner portion, the other end of said strip being Ushaped and embracing said angular portion, a switch rod extending into the side of said housing, a knob on the outer end of said rod, an operating cam on said rod adjacent to one leg of said U, a plurality of projections in said housing on both sides of said rod for maintaining said rod in operative position, said cam adapted to cause contact between said strip and angular prong portion, recesses in both parts of said housing and said angular portion fitting tightly into said recesses for holding said parts together.

5. A switch-socket structure comprising a split housing having a narrow open neck at one end thereof and a pair of slots at the other end, a threaded metal shell open at both ends held in said neck and adapted to receive a lamp at its outer end, a prong extending into said housing through one of said slots and secured to said shell, an insulating disk having a central slit adjacent the inner end of said shell, a spring metal strip having one end passed through said slit and lying against said disk and adapted to contact the center of the base of said lamp, a second prong extending through the other slot and having an angular inner portion, the other end of said strip being U-shaped and embracing said angular portion, a switch rod extending into the side of said housing, a knob on the outer end of said rod, said second prong having a cut-out through which said rod passes, an operating cam on said rod adjacent to one leg of said U, a plurality of projections in said housing on both sides of said rod for maintaining said rod in operative position, said cam adapted to cause contact be tween said strip and angular prong portion, recesses in both parts of said housing and said angular portion fitting tightly into said recesses for holding said parts together.

LOUIS LUDWIG.

REFERENCES CITED- The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,404,344 Cuthbert Jan. 24, 1922 1,918,126 Peterson July 11, 1933 2,292,038 Benander Aug. 4, 1942 2,352,248 Bramming June 27, 1944 2,427,464 Lagin Sept. 16, 1947 2,483,120 Benander Sept. 2'7, 1949 

